Earlier this year (talking 2011), the Transparency label released a beautiful storybook: "Alessandra Celletti : Paraphernalia". The book looks great and presents a lenghty interview that Massimo Marchini did with Alessandra Celletti. There's also lots of pictures in it and also some fine stories by Alessandra. As a bonus, the book carries a DVD. This DVD carries 13 tracks, or 13 little movies.Each movie is like a little music clip. All the compositions, except for two, are by Alessandra. The music is performed by Alessandra, and the videos were shot by various video artists.Beautiful.

And for some reason, the following didn't suprise me.Next to the actual discography, there's a short list (with pictures) of a couple of "unavailable albums". The list includes "Alessandra Celletti / Karlheinz Stockhausen - Integrale Klavierstücke", "Alessandra Celletti: The Worst Of Italian Popular Song", "Alessandra Celletti: The Merry Barbarian By Bartok And Variations On The Theme", and "Alessandra Celletti Plays The Music Of Frank Zappa - Ruth Is Sleeping". The covers of these imaginary albums look like the real thing.Nice. Really nice.

Before Ugly Radio Rebellion, the band from Detroit that plays the music of Frank Zappa, Scott Schroen played in Uncle Meat.They released a demo in 2004, aptly titled " Demo 2004".Data & pictures have been added to the United Mutations Archives.

A couple of years ago, Detroit-based band Ugly Radio Rebellion made a demo to get the some gigs. Must have been somewhere around 2004 - 2005.Here's a picture of the disc. I don't know what's on it, as I can't get it to play anymore, but my pc tells me that it had six tracks.

June 2000, Claron McFadden took part in a concert with the Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest, Cappella Amsterdam, Morgan Ågren and Mats Öberg performing Frank Zappa's "200 Motels, The Suites" in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.The concerts were part of the Holland Festival.

Michel Hatzigeorgiou is one of the most incredible bass players around. He plays the bass in Aka Moon.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Guitar wizard Christophe Godin cannot be pinned to one band or to one musical genre. With Pierrejean Gaucher, he toured and recorded as G2, performing pop and rock tunes in jazz arrangements. With his Mörglbl band he brings progressive rock music: amazing technical abilities combined with a fine sense of humour.

And then there's Gnô.On his website, Christophe describes Gnô as playing heavy metal pop music. On "Trash Deluxe", does indeed gets treated to a nice set of pop songs, but with a nice layer of heavy vocals and guitars.Gnô has a second, new album out as well, but I thought I'd start with adding "Trash Deluxe" to the U.M.Archives.

For a taste, you might try this little youtube video, but keep in mind that the one with the camera was standing in front of Christophe's amplifier...

Adding a bit of extra data to the Barnes & Barnes entry at the United Mutations Archives, here's "Yeah: The Essential Barnes & Barnes". I'm not a big fan of compilations, but this one was easy to come by (and was rather cheap...) .Plus, any reason to play some Barnes & Barnes is a good reason.

Hot Fur! played two concerts at the 2011 edition of the Zappanale festival.The first gig took place at the Kamptheater in the village of Bad Doberan. The second one was scheduled on the main stage at the festival grounds, but got postponed to a later day and to the truckstage due to bad weather conditions.

I didn't catch the band's first concert as I was meeting way too many friends, but I had first row seats at the (standing only) truckstage concert a couple of days later. It was a very impressive gig. The band played a lot of material from their "Live In Tel Aviv" album, plus a fine 'Whippin' Post' with special guest & former Zappa vocalist Robert Martin.

Listening to the "Live In Tel Aviv" album shows why this band was a perfect match for Zappanale. Frontman and bandleader Lior Frenkel plays some fine lead guitar and the compositions do carry a zappa-esque signature.

Barnes & Barnes are known as Bill Mumy and Robert Haimer in real life. They released their first album, "Voobaha", in 1980. On Rhino Records. The same label that featured Wild Man Fischer and The Grandmothers."Voobaha" was put on CD in 1996 by Oglio Records, so that even people who only like CDs can enjoy 'Party In My Pants', or 'Fish Heads'.

Paul Carman was part of Frank Zappa's 'best band you never heard in your life', playing the saxophone in the famous 1988 band.After recording and touring with Zappa, Paul Carman released two solo albums. The first, "Passion", in 1993, and the second, "Even Picasso Couldn't Find Her", in 2000.

Cracked Latin, the crazy duo that's made up by Lane Steinberg and Luis Accorsi, has a new album out. After listening to their first album "The World Is Cracked Latin" a year ago, I hope that this would not be a one-album stint. This was just too good.And now there's "Alone With You" (stress 'alone'). The album presents 12 twisted pop/latin songs that you will hum along immediately. Great songs, fun to listen to, and displaying impressive craftmanship. The album cover (Jim Flora!) gives it all away.

One of the tunes on "Alone With You" was co-written by R.Stevie Moore, who also contributed guitar & strings to the track. Beautiful.

Monday, December 26, 2011

American musician Euclid James “Motorhead” Sherwood, notable for playing soprano, tenor and baritone saxophone, tambourine, vocals and vocal sound effects in Frank Zappa’s original Mothers of Invention, died on December 25th, 2011.

Celebrating the 10th anniversary of their "La Revancha Del Tango" album, the Gotan Project asked a bunch of DJ's to each remix one track of the original album.The result is called "La Revancha En Cumbia" and it's just out.Alex Krygier took on 'Chunga's Revenge'.

I like the idea of having each track remixed by a DJ, but the result does have some weak points...This remix album was also made available in combination with the original album in a so-called "La Revancha Del Tango Limited Box Set Edition". Here's a picture of that box:

The Gotan Project recorded Frank Zappa's 'Chunga's Revenge' and released it on their "La Revancha Del Tango" in 2001. With their modern approach to tango, they not only released an impressive album, but an excellent version of FZ's 'Chunga's Revenge' as well.

As the band performed 'Chunga's Revenge' in concert on a regular basis, it could be found on the 2005 DVD-release "La Revancha Del Tango Live". Contemporary tango. Great stuff.

More recently, Gotan Project released another live album. This time as a 2CD-set, and again, with 'Chunga's Revenge'. Nice. Very nice.

For those of you who are into this kind of thing, the album also got released as part of the "Gotan Object" box. That's a box with the live album, a 7", a photobook, a dvd and a puzzle.It looks like this:

Browsing through the B13 catalogue for their new Zappa release, I came across two Sun Ra titles.I had always assumed that B13 had released one Sun Ra title: "Live At The Storyville", but apparently there's two of them: one with a part of the concert of the 24th, and another one of the 29th.

February 2010, a recording of a testpressing turned up at the Zappateers website. This Artisan RS 6406 test pressing probably was one of the albums that FZ wanted to include in his legendary 10 LP box set.The recording got declicked and was posted on Zappateers.You can read all about it here:http://www.zappateers.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=18544

So if you don't feel happy buying an italian semi-official release, you can always download the recording for free over at Zappateers.

wipe out (live in l.a., 1968)

east l.a. (live in nyc, 1969)

weasels ripped my flesh (live in stratford, ct, 1969)

kung fu (live in philadelphia, 1969)

igor's boogie (live in philadelphia, 1969)

passacaglia (live in philadelphia, 1969)

copenhagen night music (live in copenhagen, 1968)

help, i'm a rock (live in london, 1968)

chocolate halvah (live in miami, 1969)

prelude to the afternoon of a sexually aroused gas mask (live in london, 1968)

Sunday, December 25, 2011

When people ask me why I listen to bands and to records of bands that perform a Frank Zappa composition, the answer is simple: many of the most interesting people that I have met in my life have a connection with Zappa's music. So I assume that a band that performs one or more Zappa compositions is worth investigating.And second, some of these performances are great.

I first heard about the Pro Brass band having recorded some Zappa stuff some four or five years ago. Unfortunately, the "In & Out" album on which these compositions could be found, was sold out. Too bad. The record company did tell me that it would be reprinted but didn't say when.So when I stumbled across the album a couple of weeks ago, the brain said: 'Need this' and that was a good decision."In & Out" carries 4 Zappa compositions and they're very close to my favourite Zappa compositions, especially after listening to this record. 'Don't Eat The Yellow Snow', 'Echidna's Arf', 'Purple Lagoon', and 'Sofa'. All full blown. 12 minutes of pure enjoyment.These are among the best performances of Zappa material that I've heard, and I've heard a few.'The Purple Lagoon' is just superb. Transcribed from the "Zappa In New York" album.You really need to hear this.

The italian B13 label is known for its bizarre and mysterious releases. B13 has released some pretty rare stuff, including some fine live jazz music: Miles Davis, Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, and more recently even two Sun Ra albums: "Live At Storyville".Most of these are limited vinyl releases. On coloured vinyl. In a clear plastic sleeve.They do look pretty neat.And here's their latest one: "FZ At Artisan", taken from a recently found demo / acetate album.

"Recorded live between October 1968 and May 1969, these tracks were chosen, produced and mastered by Frank Zappa himself at Artisan Sound in Hollywood, CA in mid-1969. FZ At Artisan includes rare live versions of tracks recorded during the Mothers' first European tour (Autumn 1968) and at various locations around the USA (mostly in 1969, the year Zappa broke up the band for the first time). Several of these songs were eventually released on the LPs Weasels Ripped My Flesh and Burnt Weeny Sandwich." 140 gram vinyl. Clear vinyl in transparent PVC sleeve with purple lettering. Limited edition 500 copies."

Last week, I received "Dolor Generar - Una Noche Lost En Van Horn, Texas", one of the latest CDR-On-Demand releases from The Residents.The music on this album is the pre show music that got played during the Talking Light tour.All instrumental, and it sounds great.Part of this album already got previously released as "Dollar General". On CD.And to make things a confusing: there's also the RZ1102-version. That's the one that got sold on the tour only.Still, an impressive album.

Norwegian artist Jono El Grande has just released a new album on the Rune Arkiv label. It features recordings from 1995 to 2008. Haven't heard it yet, but it should be sort of 'peek in the kitchen' of Jono El Grande. The vinyl release is limited to 300 copies. A CD-release (with one bonus track but without the extensive liner notes) is scheduled.

Jono El Grande is one of my favorite arists. At the latest Zappanale festival, my heart got torn as I had to choose between Jono El Grande and Doctor Nerve.Eventually, I went to see Doctor Nerve because I knew that the Jono El Grande concert would be taped on video and made available (in very limited quantities) on DVDR.The Doctor Nerve concert was the highlight of the festival, but I did enjoy the recording of the Jono El Grande concert a lot as well. Still feel bad that I wasn't able to catch both...

The Universum label is reissuing two albums that got released in the early seventies on Frank Zappa & Herb Cohen's DiscReet record label.(Ted Nugent &) The Amboy Dukes "Call Of The Wild" and "Amboy Dukes" have been put on one CD and are available as digipack.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

If you have been following the latest news, you probably know that the 2012 edition of the Zappanale festival has been prolongued with one day. (= Sunday August 5, 2012)Headliner for this extra day, also known as the "Guitar Day", will be Alice Cooper and band.

Tickets and prices are available from 15. january 2012.Festivalticketholder pay half price.Free entrance for all Arf-Society members with festivalticket!

Experimental rock band Tuxedomoon started in San Francisco in 1977. A couple of years later, they released their first album on Ralph Records, the label that you should know from you Residents History.In the early eighties, the band moved to Brussels where Luc van Lieshout joined the band.

"The Super-8 Years" is a 30-minute collection of little movies that gives a impressionistic impression of what Tuxedomoon was about. It got released by the Transparency label in 2006.

Tuxedomoon is still around but the band has never escaped the cult-status.Here's a live snippet from a couple of years ago.

November 20 & 21, the Abstrac Logix record label hosted the New Universe Music Festival in North Carolina. Two days of excellent music by Alex Machacek, Jimmy Herring and John McLaughlin to name just a few.Abstract Logix not only released a fine 2CD set of this festival, but also a 2 DVD set. The selection is the same on both editions. The only difference is that the DVD set has a bonus disc with a tribute to John McLauglin and a bunch of interviews.Nice.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

From We People at MoonJune Records - aka Me, Myself & I ===> Leonardo Pavkovic. The ongoing goal of MoonJune is to support music that transcends stylistic pigeon-holing, but operates within an evolutionary progressive musical continuum that places jazz at one end and rock at the other. The ever-expanding boundaries of these two musical categories have since come to include everything from progressive rock to ethno-jazz, from experimental avante-garde to jazz-rock, and anything in between.

I'm actually involved in a couple cool musical projects for next year -- not only playing but doing some tour support/crew stuff, stay tuned or check FB.Right now --we're about to do a very quick Project/Object Tour, this will be in PA, MD, CT, MA, NJ only. Sorry.....

Back out for a quick run the road celebrating the BIRTHDAY BOY (Dec 21), amazing American Composer and Guitar Pioneer Frank Zappa. We'll once again perform his timeless music with one his most beloved lead vocalists...Ike Willis

Some changes to the band -- Eric Svalgard has decided to focus on some other projects and his School of Rock, we thank him for some awesome years behind the keyboards! This tour we'll have Kendall Scott on synths and keys, and Max Johnson will sit in on bass for the vacationing/camping Dave Johnsen. We'll also have the excellent Liz Cary on violin for PA, NJ, MD shows.

Thanks again to everyone here who came out to the October shows, that was a real blast. We hope to come back to each and every place as much as we can.

Have a great holiday and a healthy & creative 2012 - hope to see you on the road, current dates below!

Friday, December 16, 2011

Ze Mörglbl Trio released their second album in 1999."Bienvenue à Mörglbl Land" is a fine album. It combines humour with excellent musicianship.Fans of Zappa, Vai and Satriani should really check this out.The album isn't easy to find, but it got re-released in combination with the band's first album, "The Mörglbl Trio" as "Toons Tunes From The Past", on the Free Electric Sound label in 2008.

In 2001, the Gotan Project released a sublime version of Frank Zappa's 'Chunga's Revenge'. The track could also be found on their 2005 live DVD.Last month, Ya Basta records released a couple of remixes of Gotan Project songs. The album is called "La Revancha En Cumbia" and includes an Alex Krygier remix of Gotan Project's version of 'Chunga's Revenge'.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

I just heard that the Mörglbl Trio will be releasing their fifth album soon. It should be called "Brutale Romance". But this also implies that I have no time to lose to tell you about Mörgblb's fourth album."Jäzz For The Deaf" (watch the umlaut !) got released in 2009 and does indeed sound a bit heavy.As with Mörglbl's previous albums, the Trio shows some fabulous chops, but when Christophe Godin hits his guitar strings...Right up my alley.Judge for yourselves.

"Live - 'In The Moment' " is a collection of guitar solos by Dweezil Zappa, recorded during recent tours with his Zappa Plays Zappa project.This means that you get almost thirty guitar solos on pretty recognisable vamps. As you probably know, Dweezil has put a lot of time and effort in getting the right tone and the right sound for his guitar in the ZpZ band, and the result sounds very good.Sure, there's more to tone and sound to play a good guitar solo, but the air sculptures that I heard sounded quite good.Dweezil succeeded in recreating the atmospheres of a Frank Zappa guitar solo.

I've seen the ZpZ in concert on a number of occasions already, and at a number of these, I felt that DZ actually nailed FZ's guitar playing. "Live - 'In The Moment' " collects the best of these moments.

Local dutch radio station Stadsradio Breda will be hosting another Zappa Radio Avond "Zappa Radio Evening". This year, festivities will be on 2011/12/18 and the show will be hosted by René Oomen, Paul Lemmens, Ab Stammeshaus and Joost Houwaard.

Pete Griffin has left the Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa band. A replacement is in the works, but in the short run, the fabulous Scott Thunes will take over the bass.And Dweezil is preparing a new release, going through the FOH (Front Of House) mixes from previous shows...

Dweezil Zappa adds:

Hello Everyone,I am currently knee deep in FOH CDs that I am sorting through for the next release but I wanted to take a moment to let you all know that the February run will be quite unique.Why? Good question.Is it the material you'll be performing? Another good question.Is the band performing nude? Not such a good question and NO.The material will reflect some changes but the biggest change is in the low end frequency response. Anything offered to you from 40hz to 200hz will be done so by Scott Thunes on his beat to s h i t Fender P bass.We are happy to have Scott join us for the whole tour "All Night Long" and not in the Lionel Ritchie way, more Advance Romance... anyway, it will be fun for all of us.For those of you wondering if Pete Griffin will be returning, sorry but he won't. He has quit the band to pursue other ventures.We have selected a talented replacement who will be introduced to all of you in the coming months. He's a little busy learning a huge list of the World's Finest Optional Entertainment.See you all soon! Happy Holidays.DZ

For anyone interested, there is an interview that will be airing in the UK soon that features a little bit of "In The Moment" as well as some FZ music.Here is a clip from the interview, which you can hear in full on Stuart Maconie's Freakier Zone, Friday 16 December at midnight on BBC Radio 6music, also available as a podcast and worldwide on the iPlayer for seven days after broadcast.

The box includes recordings of Pharoah Sanders Quintet plus collaborations with the Don Cherry Quintet, the Paul Bley Quartet, and with Sun Ra.Disc three and four of the box present the Sun Ra Arkestra with Pharoah Sanders, live at the Judson Hall on December 30 and 31, 1964.

Here's two promotional videos for this box set, with Pharoah telling how he met Sun Ra and some great music samples.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

In 1998 The Mörglbl Trio recorded its first album: Ivan Rougny on bass, Jean-Pierre Frelezeau on drums and the fabulous Christophe Godin on guitar.Later, The Mörglbl Trio changed its name to Mörglbl. The band played at Zappanale in 2007. The festival had already featured Christophe Godin in 2002 when he had teamed up with Pierrejean Gaucher for one of the best gigs in Zappanale history.Christophe Godin does have this thing with unpronounceable names as he also perfoms with Gnô, and with 2G.

"The Mörglbl Trio" was the trio's first release. It was a private release and you should consider the album as rather hard to find. The music on the album is great. Instrumental, guitar-orientated rock music. Right up my alley.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Fans/Friends,Kimono Draggin' have made it to the final 30 in the 2011 Verbicide Unsigned Band contest. Please go to their profile on Verbicide Magazine and vote for them! These guys are seriously the most active band that isn't together!

Bobby Bradford, Mark Dresser and former Zappa trombonist Glenn Ferris recorded an album entitled "Live In L.A.".Nice anecdote: it got recorded in Bruce Fowler's house, another famous Zappa trombone player.

bradford, dresser & ferris: live in l.a.(2011 cd, usa, ??) - recorded at tom fowler's house

Monday, December 5, 2011

Adding data & pictures to the Sun Ra discography, brings me to "Heliocentric Worlds Vol.3". This recording was taken from the record session for "Heliocentric Worlds Vol.2", November 16, 1965 !

The original and first two volumes of "Heliocentric World" were both recorded and released in 1965. The recording of the session that was released on this album was found after 35 years and got released by ESP in 2005.

This is improvised music at its best. Think 1965. Think Sun Ra, the Arkestra's rhythm section and three fabulous improvisers: Pat Patrick, John Gilmore and Marshall Allen.

Here's 'Cosmic Chaos', from Vol.2, which should give you a bit of an idea.

Belgian distributor and on-line shop Mandaï has some fine new releases in their catalogue.www.mandai.beOn "Tres Cabecas Loucuras", the Sao Paulo Underground adds latin spices and electronic beats to snappy jazz lines. Party time.

Next up is the Cuneiform reissue of the famous Mats / Morgan "Live" album. Originally released in 2001, this album shows what Mats & Morgan are all about: a perfect mixture of angular rock and jazz. A must-have !! Just listen to this amazing little live clip.

Album number four of "Dead Cat Bounce" presents some fine jazz tunes: four saxophones, upright bass and drums. This swings !!

Here's a live version of the opening track of their latest "Chance Episodes".

The complete Miles Davis Montreux concerts have been released as a 10 DVD video box set, but also as a 20 DVD audio box set.An impressive piece of history.Zappa fans that need that little extra reason to buy one of these, or maybe even both boxes, should know that both George Duke and Tom Malone can be heard in these concerts. George Duke was a special guest in 1986 and performed on a couple of tracks, while Tom Malone (think Wazoo) can be heard as part of the Gil Evans Orchestra with whom Miles performed in 1991.The video box also includes an interview with former Zappa sideman and jazz great Jean-Luc Ponty.

Attentive readers might have noticed that the latest Dwalmacat radio show featured a track by Chrome, 'Pygmies In Zee Park'. When Chrome broke up in the early eighties, their guitar player, Helios Creed, started a solo career.Both Chrome and Helios Creed do have a cult following, but it will not only be these fans that will like this album. On "Galactic Octopi", Helios Creed's distorted guitar takes a leading role. Mixed with a heavy drum beat and Residents-like narration, it will indeed take you to another planet.Industrial Space Rock.Out on Transparency.Available on CD and on vinyl.

I like this.

The below clips offer 'Pygmies In Zee Park' by Chrome from 1978 (!!) and 'Star Streaker' from Helios Creed's "Galactic Octopi' (love that title). Check them out !!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Hello Friends,We've been busy making touring plans for 2012. In the past the early part of the year has been downtime for us but not next year! We are happy to announce a special run of dates in February that take us up and down the west coast of California as well as a brief visit to Arizona. We're excited to be playing some new cities on this tour and look forward to making the shows memorable for all of you.

In our continuing effort to present the variety and depth within Frank's musical compositions we are planning to premier more new material on this tour. More 60's, 70's and 80's FZ! Of course we still have a good amount of the well known classics we're ready to whip out as well!

Please keep an eye open and an ear tuned for other special announcements about additional dates, new projects and music that is coming soon as well! If we are able to do everything on our list, 2012 is going to be a very busy year for us and a good year to provide the "World's Finest Optional Entertainment"!See you on the road very soon!DZ

The Machine Mass Trio has Tony Bianco on drums and percussion, Michel Delville on guitar, synth guitar and electronics, and Jordi Grognard on saxophone, clarinet, flute and more.

I'm quite familiar with Michel Delville's output and I was quite impressed by douBt, the previous collaboration by Tony Bianco an Michel Delville, but that hadn't prepared me for "As Real As Thinking".On this album, The Machine Mass Trio mixes jazz-rock, experimental rock and jazz into a feast for the mind.

There's only three people and eight compositions on this album, but there's so much going on.I really like Tony Bianco's drumming. He's got this great jazz groove that not only gives a lot of room to the other musicians, but that keeps it all together as well.Michel Delville's guitar playing is exceptional. I knew that Michel could toy around with synth chords and soundscapes and that he could produce beautiful clouds of notes, but on "As Real As Thinking" he really pushes his limits. The guitar solos in 'Cuckoo' and in 'Let Go' are fantastic.And then there's Jordi Grognard's fluent jazz lines that add the experimental jazz flavour to the whole.I love it !!

With "As Real As Thinking" the Machine Mass Trio gives you a varied mix of experimental rock and jazz: angular melodies on groovy rhythms, impressive improvisations and great interactions.

Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Steve Lukather are very excited to announce they will be touring in Australia and New Zealand early next year as G3: 2012! The group will also appear at "Australia's Byron Bay Blues Fest" following the tour.

A very limited number of "Guitar Secrets Experience" meet and greet packages are being offered on G3 2012's Australian & New Zealand tour dates. The "Platinum" Package will include a 30 minute Q&A "meet and greet" with Steve Vai & Joe Satriani, a ticket in the first five rows for that night's concert, an individual photo opportunity, an autograph signing & a special laminate. The "Gold" Package will include a concert ticket in the first 10 rows, an autographed poster, photograph with Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Steve Lukather & a special laminate. For more information, visit the vai.com news page